It sounds like the Phillies want entirely too much for Ben Revere
Philadelphia Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has built a reputation for overvaluing his trade chips in recent years. They were surprisingly quiet at the trade deadline last year when all signs pointed to a fire sale. They haven’t moved Cole Hamels yet and last winter it was said Amaro needed to be “wowed.”
And now, he’s reportedly asking for either Taijuan Walker or James Paxton, two of the Seattle Mariners’ young pitchers in return for outfielder Ben Revere, which ummmm, no.
At first we thought this was something from the usually hilarious @BadMLB — the Twitter tracker of bad MLB trade ideas from fans — but it turns out, it’s real. Well, reportedly real.
From Mariners beat writer Bob Dutton at The News Tribune:
The Mariners inquired into the availability of Philadelphia outfielder Ben Revere, as first reported by CSNPhilly.com, but talks quickly stalled when the Phillies asked for either Taijuan Walker or James Paxton in return. …
The Mariners are likely to show renewed interest if Philadelphia lowers its asking price. Revere would project as the Mariners’ regular left fielder and could shift next season to center field if Austin Jackson departs as a free agent.
Revere is a useful player — he makes some really nice defensive plays and hit .306 last season. But at best, he’s a 2-WAR guy. There’s not much of a high ceiling there. While neither Walker nor Paxton has been particularly stunning this year, they’re both looked at as valuable pitchers for the Mariners moving forward.
You needn’t be an MLB GM to realize that the Mariners wouldn’t trade either of their building-block pitchers for Ben freakin’ Revere, who is a free agent in two years. Walker is 22 and won’t hit free agency until 2021. Paxton is older, 26, but he won’t be a free agent until 2020. That’s a whole lot of wonderful team control.
For what it’s worth, Amaro has now denied this trade proposal, telling Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal:
“Typically we would not comment on rumors. But when they reach this level of ridiculousness, I can say unequivocally that what has been written is false.”
If true, we suppose you can’t blame Amaro for shooting for the moon. He IS the guy whom Curt Schilling says would tell flight attendants that he’s “the total package.” But trying to broker unrealistic trades like this? It doesn’t work in fantasy baseball and it doesn’t work in the real thing.
The Phillies are also reportedly trying to move closer Jonathan Papelbon. The Toronto Blue Jays are one of the teams said to be interested. Let’s hope for the sake of that trade that Amaro isn’t asking for Josh Donaldson.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
